Argentinian firm to pay $122 million penalty in FIFA case

NEW YORK – An Argentinian sports marketing firm will pay more than $112 million in forfeiture and fines in the FIFA bribery scandal.

Torneos y Competencias agreed to the penalties and admitted its role in the scheme as part of an agreement with U.S. prosecutors that spared the company a criminal prosecution. The deal was finalized Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn.

Prosecutors say the firm paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to high-ranking FIFA officials to secure rights to broadcast the World Cup in 2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030.

Last year, its former CEO Alejandro Burzaco pleaded guilty in the U.S. case accusing several former soccer officials and marketing officials with orchestrating an international bribery scheme that's shaken soccer's governing body. His sentencing is scheduled for May.